Phillies

Byrd, Howard Power Phillies To 7-2 Win Over Mets

Marlon Byrd #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies rounds third base after hitting a home run off pitcher Bartolo Colon #40 of the New York Mets during the fifth inning on August 30, 2014 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Credit: Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

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NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Howard drove in three runs, Marlon Byrd homered on his 37th birthday and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the New York Mets 7-2 on Saturday night.

Jerome Williams pitched into the seventh inning to win his third straight decision since joining the last-place Phillies, who won for the seventh time in nine games. They batted around in the sixth, scoring five runs off Bartolo Colon on seven hits — all singles.

Ben Revere, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley singled to start the outburst, loading the bases for Howard. The big slugger lined yet another single to right field, driving in two for a 3-0 lead.

Cody Asche greeted Buddy Carlyle with another run-scoring single before Philadelphia was finally retired in a half-inning that took just short of 20 minutes.

It has not been an easy couple of weeks for Colon (12-11), who left the Mets twice recently, the first time to be by his ailing mother’s side and the second to attend her funeral in the Dominican Republic.

Still the subject of trade speculation, Colon gave up Byrd’s leadoff homer into the Phillies’ bullpen in the fifth. He appeared to tire in the sixth, and lost for the first time in four starts against the Phillies this season.

Philadelphia banged out 12 hits to back another solid performance from Williams (3-0), who gave up two runs and four hits in 6 1-3 innings. Facing the Mets for the first time since 2007 with Washington, the 32-year-old journeyman from Hawaii was virtually untouchable for the first six innings.

Williams, who is 5-5 overall this year, has enjoyed a resurgence since he was picked up off waivers from Texas this month. Pitching for his third team this season, the right-hander has a 2.03 ERA in four starts with thePhillies.

Mets second baseman Dilson Herrera singled in a two-run seventh for his first major league hit. Wilmer Flores had an RBI single, but Antonio Bastardo left the bases loaded by striking out Curtis Granderson.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: All-Star 2B Daniel Murphy (strained right calf) was wearing a walking boot on his right foot in the clubhouse before the game. Murphy was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday night, retroactive to Aug. 25.

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP A.J. Burnett (7-14, 4.30 ERA) starts the series finale Sunday. He is coming off a dominant performance against first-place Washington in which he struck out 12 over seven innings and snapped his six-game losing streak. The 37-year-old Burnett recently hinted that he might retire after the season.

Mets: RHP Dillon Gee (5-6, 3.77) tries to win consecutive starts for the first time since May 4 against a Philadelphia team that has traditionally given him fits. Gee has a 6.53 ERA against the Phillies, giving up 15 home runs over 70 1-3 innings. But he fared much better the last time he faced them, tossing seven innings in a 2-1 Mets victory at Citizens Bank Park.